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Thursday, October 9, 2014
The United Nations human rights office says it is "essential" that legal proceedings and investigations against individuals associated with former Haitian president Jean-Claude ?Baby Doc? Duvalier continue, despite his death last weekend.
A spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that while all the crimes were ?obviously? not committed by Duvalier himself, it was imperative that the perpetrators of all abuses be brought to trial.
OCHCR noted serious human rights violations, including torture, rape and extrajudicial killings, dating to the period spanning 1971 to 1986 ? the years when Duvalier was in power ? have been extensively documented by Haitian and international human rights groups.
Earlier this year, Haiti?s Court of Appeals reversed a January 2012 decision that stated that the 63-year-old leader could not be charged with crimes against humanity which occurred during his reign because the statute of limitations had expired. After 25-years of living in exile, Duvalier?s return to Haiti in 2011 spurred victims and civil society organizations to seek justice for the abuses committed during his 15 years in office.
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